Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-01-14

arrival ~
A correspondent of the Shanghai Cour-
Ter, writing from kiukiang under date of
November -, gives the following inter
esting details of Thomas Stevens's adven-
turesome bicycle trip through China
This morning very much travel
stained, unwashed, unshaved, unshorn,
unfed, slip-shod and altogether dlsrepu-
table looking spcclmen Of the genius
Fankwae Goregn deviO, appeared mys-
teriously and unannOunced upon our
bund. He bestrode "A queer-looking vehi
Gle that the Celestials Of the middle king
dom had never seen the like of before
consequently numerous and highly de-
mOnstrative crowd of these most inuuis-
tive Of mortals brought up the rear, until
| they themselves were suddenly brought
up at the cate OF the English cons ulate.
| | need hardly aud that the cause of all
the commotlon was MIR. Thomas Stevens
on his bicycle, Who had arrived, after one
of the most trying and eventful of his
| tours, some two weeks later than he had
| expected Ia an interview | had with
! him he gave me the following account of
| his journey:
Starting from Canton on October 10,
| had expected to reach kluklang inside of
20 days; but calculations, based on my
! experience in other countries, failed me
entirely in China ] found it a totally
different country from any of the others
| have traversed, both AS regards roads,
people, accommodation, and experiences
generally. 1t would be little exaggera-
ton to say that the only roads in South
China (the north may be a little ditferenU
are the rivers. and no eXaggeration what
ever to say that the only proper way to
travel is with Il boat, in which one can
live rs in house Strictly speaking there
are no roads at ALL rs we understand the
term only narrow footpaths leading here,
there and everywhere, and yet nowhere
in particular; an Intricate maze of tracks
about the rice fields, in which n stranger
finds himself hOpelessly bewildered to
commence with, and invariably lost at
last. The first day out from Canton after
travelling, | should think, 20 miles,
found myself in a village about IL miles
out. Neither are these pathways of that
asphalt-like smOolhneSs Of surface for
which an experienced cNCler naturally
yearns, who sees the pleasant autumn
weather gradually gliding past, ard the
distance ahead sull great On the con
trry, powders and rough slabs of stone,
once laid level, but now more often slop-
ing AT angles, mat render them preCarlOu~
footing Tor anything buf goat, or II bare
looted Chluamau, are the chief character
istic-. Ia addition to this, they are often
not more than two feet wide, and often
rise several feet above the waving paddy
80 that traversng them Is feat really
equal TO the performance OF walking on a
wall. Onder these en- cumstauces n per
son frequently thinks OF swapping his
bicycle for It "pariah yaller,' and Kidding
the purp with bullets.
! persevered for iour days, hoping the
roads would improve at the end of which
time | arrived IN Il country where there
were no paths, no PADDY neld9 only the
Pe-kiang river, and the rocky mountains
: a b, ar A I'M nan
would take me down stream and back to
Canton III three days, An but the good
people AT nome (somt OF theml would say
pooh he was AFRAID to 90 through the
badness OF the roads was ouly conNeh-
lent excuse. As 1t would never do Ia
give the good people AT nome the oppor-
tuhlty OF thinking TINS, concluued TO 20
through to kluklang ana shanghai the
best way possible. -Four Gays, pollng,
rowing ana towing on llttie saulpah 10
Chao, choo-too, ana four more with coolies
carrying the bicycle, brought me over the
Meellng Pass ana lnto the province oil
klang Use. striking the headWater OF the
kan-klang river AT Nanhung | might
nave come down stream All the way 10 the
Poyang HOO. | found the paths III klanG
Use, however, quite an lmproNemeht OF
those OF Quang tung, and Dlcycled my
may down TO hin gan ZOO,
80 lar, hau got along without SERIOUS
trouble with the people. kan-tchou.too
had been told, WAS a ms KY city TO VISIT
but trundIed the bicycle through II IRON
one end to the other, IN the m;ddle oil a
surglng, shouting crowd, and, beyont
getting my helmet Knocked on a lie"
times, was offered no lnulgnltIes. la-ht
was the first city where the authorities
saw lit to favor me with an escort they
sent a couple OF soldiers with me to Kin
gan-foo. They evidently knew what they
were about for should have Jared oadl!
} had | reached kln-gan-foo alone. no
| knowing the direct road TO the lamen
The soldiers betrayed anxiety AS we ap
, preached the city the MOB collected, ant
. while yet several hundred yards from thu
? Yamen the stones began to come, anC
wild yels for the Fankwae rent the air
Missiles that would have knocked m
5 senseless had been wearing an ordlnar.
hat only made dents in the big pith sofa
+ topee ! had worn through India, anC
e which etfectually protected my head anC
/ shoulders escaped into the Yamen witt
/ but few trifng bruises and one spok
soldiers got DHulV nlrt on the arm, pro